


Ultraviolet

by HyperKey (Sylverstia), Sylverstia



Series: Chronological Order [32]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-11-14 02:58:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18044162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylverstia/pseuds/HyperKey, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylverstia/pseuds/Sylverstia
Summary: The RK900 was so much more resillient than its predecessor.Was it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ...This has been in the plannings for ages.
> 
> There's infrared with Connor...  
> So why not Ultraviolet with Cory.

Gavin bolted upright in his bed before he even realized why. Something had ripped him out of his sleep. Most likely a noise. His apartment was safe, but that didn’t mean shit when it came to robberies.

Silently he slipped off the bed, half crouched as he grabbed his cellphone, ready to call 911 if there was an intruder.

The apartment was silent, save for some shuffling in the living room that sounded like frantic whispers and suppressed sobs.

Couldn’t be Emma, the voice was definitely male.

He scolded himself. Cory would have reacted if there had been any intruder.

“Cory?” he asked into the darkness off the hall.

The carped was rough and unpleasant against his bare feet, reminded him that he really didn’t want to run around his apartment at whatever time it was.

Probably way too early to be awake yet.

The living room was bathed in a faint red glow, way too close to the floor.

Cory had stayed here over night, gave Gavin some half-hearted excuse of why he wanted to stay. The detective hadn’t really cared. Now that Emma had decided he liked the android, Cory was more than welcome to come over whenever he pleased.

“Hey…” Gavin whispered, stepped into the room, crouched down next to the shivering android.

Cory had his hands clawed into his hair, was seated on the floor, hunched over and frantically whispered things Gavin couldn’t make out properly.

There were bits and pieces of words he caught, but none of it made any sort of sense.

“Cory, what’s going on?”

The heat radiating off the android was intense.

“Shit.” Gavin cursed. “Do you need a tech?”

“No!” Cory protested immediately. “No...”

Gavin nodded, surprised at the emotional reaction. This wasn’t exactly what he expected. “Okay.” He muttered instead. “Tell me what’s happening, yeah?”

Cory was silent for a moment, visibly struggling against forming words. “System…” he managed, voice taking on a tinge of static.

“What’s wrong with your system? You’re overheating.” He knew a few things about androids. And that didn’t take a genius to tell. “Come on, take that jacket off.”

Why Cory chose to always stay in the thick DPD jacket, was beyond him anyway. Ever since he had replaced the white jacket he had gotten from cyberlife, Gavin had barely ever seen him in just a normal shirt.  Sure, the DPD jackets were warm and comfy, but an android likely wasn’t comfortable in the heat. On top of that he always had that stupid shirt with the long collar. Far away it looked like a turtleneck. Up close it was just a button up with a stupidly long collar.

Gavin had often thought about kicking the idiot who suggested this style of clothing to Cory. Even Connor dressed normally. Usually.

“No…!” Cory hissed, hands flying from his head, shoving at Gavin who reached out to him.

“Jesus-“ Gavin hissed as he fell backwards, hitting the coffee table. “The hell is wrong with you?”

The detective didn’t understand the groaned reply, but it sounded so uncertain and confused that he had to grind his teeth against the dread in his chest.

“Okay.” He sighed, sat up again and leaned back towards his partner, this time without trying to touch him. “I can’t guess what’s wrong just by looking at you. Give me something to work with.”

Cory’s breath hitched and the reply was so fast and so faint that Gavin almost missed it. “Youcan’thelp-“

“Fine, but I _want_ to help, you fucking idiot.” Gavin grabbed the jacket again, tugged on it and refused to let go even when Cory struggled against him.

There was a strange noise coming from the android, almost like things grinding together and when Gavin finally got the jacket off, the android bit back a sound that was so close to a pained howl that it made the human wince.

He tossed the piece of clothing aside and wrapped an arm around the front of his partner as he dipped forward. When he placed a hand on his back, Cory jerked at the contact and tried to move away from it.

Gavin cursed, moved his head away just in time to avoid having Cory’s head hit him in the face.

Something under his hand on the android back shifted and Gavin’s stomach turned when Cory screamed.

He lunged for his phone on the coffee table, jostled the android again and drew another grunt over his partner’s lips.

“Fucking tin can.” Gavin sighed, looked through his contacts to find his brother. Elijah would be mad for getting woken up this late, but he couldn’t care less.

As expected, voice mail answered, but Gavin sent a text to Chloe. The android would receive it.

“I’m gonna put you on the floor okay?” the detective muttered after he put his phone aside and carefully lowered Cory to the carpet.

The carpet where only months prior thirium stains had soiled it.

Gavin resisted the urge to rub circles into the android back, unsure what kind of reaction it would draw from him. That scream just moments prior was still replaying in this mind. Had that been pain? Or was it just the reaction to an error?

“Your carpet contains dust mites and-“

“Shut up.”

“It also has an unpleasant odor-“

“Cory, shut the fuck up about my carpet.”

“The best course of action to remove the-“

Gavin flicked the side of the android’s head. Cory flinched and hissed but didn’t say anything more.

“I know you’re a fucking clean-freak, but the state of my shitty carpet isn’t what I am interested in right now. The hell happened to you?”

“Unknown.”

Gavin sighed and gazed around the room. There wasn’t any clue to tell him what had happened. Cory had stayed late at work, he couldn’t have been home for long.

“Okay, then what the fuck happened before you came home?”

“There was a barfight, which Officer Miller and I broke up.”

Gavin nodded to himself, resisted the urge to play with the android’s hair. He still wasn’t entirely sure when Cory had altered the look of it, but now it reached chin length and looked almost unkempt after long shifts.

“And after that?”

Cory stayed silent for a moment, as if thinking about what to say. Gavin knew he was buying time. “I was struck in the back with a beer bottle.”

Things fell into place now. “And you got hurt.”

“It was only minor-“

The android shifted away when Gavin motioned to his back. “Minor, huh? What the fuck did I feel under there? That’s not supposed to shift.”

Cory didn’t reply and only tensed when Gavin tugged the shirt up to move his hand under it. He could feel the hammering thirium pump under his fingers, noticed the hitched breaths as well as the almost disturbing grinding in the plating of the android. Humans would have their shoulder blades there. What did androids have?

This definitely needed some fixing.

Sliding his second hand under the shirt he was feeling for broken bones without really thinking about it. The training didn’t just go away just because this was an android.

A sudden yelp and jolt of the android had him pulls his hands back. “Fuck…”

“Why did you do that?” An icy glare focused on him, emphasized by the red LED.

“I have no fucking idea what that is, but that felt really fucking unpleasant.”

“It was…” Cory almost whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long.  
> Oops.
> 
> Hope you like it anyway.  
> All hell breaks loose.

Two days later Gavin had to head to another precinct for a case that had accidentally ended up there. Tina was already eager to greet them. Mostly excited to show them the newest addition to their team.

Apparently an RK900 who had joined about a week ago.

“You can stay in the car, you know?” Gavin suggested to Cory as he parked the car in front of the precinct.

“That’s okay. I already ran into him.”

Gavin’s eyebrows shot up. “What? When?”

“At the barfight.”

Gavin scoffed, then exited the car and waited for his partner. Cory seemed hesitant, but followed him anyway. Given the history Cory had with other RK900s, especially the proper models, Gavin couldn’t blame him.

“So, who broke your shoulder then?”

“The guy with the beer bottle.”

Gavin scowled. That answer came too fast, almost as if Cory had been expecting the question.

“You sure? Because Chris said you left right after me and had no clue about a barfight.”

He watched Cory’s LED turn a bright red for a second, before the android hung his freshly fixed shoulders. It had taken hours to repair it and Cindy had cursed up a storm at how complicated the shoulder blade had been damaged.

Gavin didn’t need to be a detective to understand that a beer-bottle wouldn’t have been able to do this kind of damage.

“I broke up the fight by myself. I apologize for lying.”

Gavin shook his head. “Why lie at all? You think I’m gonna yell or what?”

Cory shook his head and was spared having to answer when they entered the precinct and were greeted by Tina who was grinning at them. Behind her one of the infamous RK900 models.

“Shit they really look like you.” Gavin muttered under his breath.

Cory was trailing a step behind him, almost as if trying to bring distance between himself and the other android.

“Look at the new guy!” Tina exclaimed and gestured wildly at the android as if she was talking about a new car. “He’s so shiny and new!”

“This unit was deployed to this precinct to battle the failing arrest counts.” The android explained, and Gavin couldn’t help but shiver at its voice.

It was Cory’s voice. But something about it was incredibly off putting. Maybe it was the lack of inflection. Or maybe the lack of any facial expression. It looked stone cold and all the warmth Cory’s tone held was gone in that android.

Cory was still behind Gavin and the detective sensed the incredible tension.

“What, not gonna greet your twin?” Tina teased Cory.

“Shut up.” Gavin hissed at her. “Bad day.”

It hadn’t been a bad day, until Gavin realized that the android Tina wanted to show him was an RK900. It explained a lot of Cory’s tension.

Just a few months ago, Cory had been attacked violently by other RK900s for deviating in a group of them. And he had begged for a reset after they were done. Gavin had seen all the footage. Cindy had recovered it after a particularly nasty incident with Cory.

And Cory remembered all of it

If anything, it was best to just leave and maybe come back without Cory.

His partner had backed away several steps now, eyes wide and posture ready to bolt. The other RK900 was standing stiffly, but Gavin knew that didn’t mean shit with androids. They moved in a fraction of a second. By the time any human reacted it was usually too late.

Cory’s whole demeanor had changed. Usually proud and confident, he was now slightly hunched, shoulders pulled up as if trying to protect his neck.

Gavin gazed between the two androids and clenched his fists. It was like watching a tiger seizing up its prey. Gavin had never seen Cory like this. Even in his worst moments, Cory never let emotions control his behavior when he was at work.

Off the clock that was a different story.

Tina’s grin had fallen when she realized the tension, fingers hovering over her holster, ready to take action of needed.

“This unit is faulty.” The RK900 said then. “It needs to be terminated.”

Gavin stepped in front of his partner, glaring up at the android. “The fuck’s wrong with this thing?” He asked Tina while still staring into the cold blue eyes of the android.

“I don’t know. Was completely normal until you two walked in.”

“Threatening to kill an officer is not normal in my book, Tina.” Gavin growled.

“RK900, Cory is as much part of the DPD as-“ She was cut off when the android pushed her and Gavin aside, and lunged at Cory who managed to jump out of the way barely fast enough to avoid getting grabbed.

The RK900 didn’t stop there, however, and once Gavin was back to his feet, all he could do was watch Cory dart through the precinct while pushing tables and chairs into the way of the android, in a desperate attempted to escape.

Gavin drew his gun then, aimed it at the android. “Everybody down!” He shouted at the humans that were trying to escape the line of destruction both androids left in their wake.

At this point he only had eyes for the predator and Cory, a heavy lump of worry in his chest as Cory was scrambling away and jumped across tables to bring distance between himself and the RK900. Why this was happening was at a loss of everyone in the precinct. But that didn’t mean nobody tried to stop the androids.

It was incredibly stupid to stop any raging android; Gavin knew that well.

It could mean death.

Cory’s terrified gaze pierced Gavin right in the heart. This had to stop. Cory was avoiding the humans, most likely in an attempt to minimize injury. But in turn that left thousands of dollars of police equipment trashed and on the floor. Not that Gavin gave a fuck about that.

He tried to signal Cory to run back to him, but the android was too occupied and when he found the entrance to the breakroom, he made a run for it.

There was an emergency exit, and Gavin hoped Cory would make it.

Then he was screaming before he even realized why. The RK900 had managed to grab Cory’s arm, tried to pull him close. Cory’s screech of terror was a sound Gavin knew he would never forget. Cory used his legs to push against the android and gracelessly fell to the floor when the RK900 kicked him.

Gavin was running. With Cory on the floor he had a clear shot. He managed to get the android in the shoulder, but it was unfazed. Gavin growled. He knew that. Cory didn’t give much of a damn about bullet wounds either, but it was the only form of weapon he had.

“Deactivate the fucking thing!” Gavin screamed across the room, hoping anyone with the codes heard him.

The RK900 was hovering over Cory, who was still on the floor, trying to scramble away and get his bearings. It was only seconds, but that was more than enough for the predator to grab Cory’s arm and rip it out of its socket.

Gavin ducked under the flying appendage, forced himself not to think about it. Saving his partner had priority. Fuck the arm.

“Step away from him!” Gavin barked at the RK900.

His stomach turned when the cold eyes focused on him. All he could do now was trying to talk to the thing and buy some time.

He didn’t dare take his eyes off the thing. “Step away from him.” He repeated, voice calmer now. Much more collected than he felt.

The RK900 didn’t move a hair. Gavin barely even noticed that he had pulled the trigger, until the android crumpled to the ground with a bleeding wound from its head. He let go of his gun, stumbled over the broken remains of a chair and darted towards Cory as fast as he could through the destruction.

Cory was still on the floor, face twisted in pure agony, breath coming in short gasps as he gripped the socket where his arm was supposed to me.

“Call a fucking tech!” Gavin shouted at no one in particular and fell to his knees beside his partner.

This was a sight that wasn’t as new as he wished it would be. Androids didn’t feel pain. Well, no android except Cory, apparently.

“Breathe.” He said, voice silent and calm but firm. He carded his hand through the dark hair of his partner, felt the heat radiating off of him.

Never before had he seen Cory being overpowered like that. In any sort of chase, he was usually victorious, even if he had a meltdown afterwards. He never fell and got damaged like that.

First time for everything, Gavin guessed.

“Shot the thing in the head, it’s okay. It can’t harm you.”

That seemed to calm his partner a bit. Not a lot, but Gavin assumed the missing arm was giving him enough errors to begin with.

The blaring red LED stuttered yellow for a moment, and went back to red. Gavin didn’t know why his eyes burned now. He was supposed to stay professional. Supposed to enforce protocol. And he tried to keep it up, but it was hard, seeing his partner like that.

Cory’s eyes were squeezed shut, tears running freely. If from pain or terror, Gavin didn’t know. Both seemed like a good guess.

The amount of thirium dripping from the wound was not as bad as he had feared, but it did nothing to ease the nausea he felt not that the situation had been defused.

He didn’t dare to think about the bill for all the damaged equipment.

 

 


End file.
